Yomiuri Giants acquire Saburo from the Chiba Lotte Marines for Takahito Kudo
by Gen on Jun.29, 2011 @ 4:38 pm, under NPB
The Yomiuri Giants and Chiba Lotte Marines have agreed upon a trade that will send 30-year-old OF Takahito Kudo to Lotte for 35-year-old OF Saburo.
UPDATE 6/30 @ 12:09am - As Steve mentions in the comments below, Lotte will also be receiving cash in the trade.
UPDATE 6/30 @ 12:20am - Forgot to mention that it was Lotte that approached the Giants.
UPDATE 6/30 @ 6:46am - Saburo's registered name will probably be Omura. His uniform number is still unknown and it isn't certain if he'll start at Ichi-gun.
UPDATE 6/30 @ 7:04am - It seems Saburo will get the number 0. The Giants will also be holding a press conference to introduce Saburo at Tokyo Dome later today.
UPDATE 6/30 @ 4:32pm - The Giants held a press conference for Saburo today at Tokyo Dome and announced that he'll be wearing the number 0 and this his name will be registered as Omura.
UPDATE 7/5 @ 3:03pm - The Marines held a press conference for Kudo at QVC Marine today. He was also assigned the nubmer 3.
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Saburo's Career Stats
| Yr | Tm | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | TB | RBI | SB | CS | SH | SF | BB | HBP | SO | DP | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 1995 | LOT | 28 | 61 | 48 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 17 | 0 | .188 | .333 | .229 | .568 |
| 1996 | LOT | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.000 |
| 1997 | LOT | 33 | 32 | 28 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .179 | .233 | .250 | .483 |
| 1998 | LOT | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| 1999 | LOT | 108 | 156 | 130 | 26 | 30 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 27 | 0 | .231 | .306 | .300 | .606 |
| 2000 | LOT | 95 | 314 | 263 | 42 | 71 | 13 | 1 | 5 | 101 | 23 | 8 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 35 | 0 | 41 | 4 | .270 | .355 | .384 | .740 |
| 2001 | LOT | 108 | 284 | 240 | 37 | 55 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 72 | 25 | 9 | 7 | 17 | 3 | 23 | 1 | 45 | 8 | .229 | .296 | .300 | .599 |
| 2002 | LOT | 131 | 512 | 441 | 67 | 126 | 33 | 2 | 9 | 190 | 43 | 13 | 1 | 20 | 6 | 36 | 9 | 93 | 4 | .286 | .348 | .431 | .783 |
| 2003 | LOT | 80 | 333 | 286 | 44 | 78 | 23 | 1 | 10 | 133 | 46 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 4 | 24 | 6 | 66 | 2 | .273 | .338 | .465 | .807 |
| 2004 | LOT | 89 | 295 | 258 | 31 | 66 | 16 | 3 | 5 | 103 | 33 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 26 | 4 | 54 | 12 | .256 | .331 | .399 | .733 |
| 2005 | LOT | 107 | 394 | 351 | 68 | 110 | 19 | 6 | 14 | 183 | 50 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 38 | 1 | 77 | 6 | .313 | .380 | .521 | .903 |
| 2006 | LOT | 115 | 344 | 298 | 38 | 65 | 13 | 1 | 9 | 107 | 38 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 34 | 2 | 84 | 6 | .218 | .295 | .359 | .661 |
| 2007 | LOT | 133 | 528 | 472 | 67 | 127 | 28 | 4 | 7 | 184 | 68 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 43 | 4 | 105 | 5 | .269 | .331 | .390 | .725 |
| 2008 | LOT | 105 | 390 | 346 | 43 | 100 | 22 | 2 | 6 | 144 | 56 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 70 | 5 | .289 | .359 | .416 | .779 |
| 2009 | LOT | 119 | 489 | 427 | 71 | 134 | 24 | 2 | 22 | 228 | 68 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 48 | 1 | 121 | 7 | .314 | .377 | .534 | .918 |
| 2010 | LOT | 125 | 513 | 452 | 58 | 118 | 15 | 2 | 19 | 194 | 71 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 56 | 2 | 118 | 14 | .261 | .344 | .429 | .774 |
| 2011 | LOT | 19 | 78 | 70 | 5 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 29 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 13 | 3 | .271 | .346 | .414 | .760 |
| Totals | 1406 | 4725 | 4112 | 604 | 1114 | 235 | 25 | 109 | 1726 | 541 | 78 | 50 | 98 | 47 | 430 | 38 | 940 | 76 | .271 | .342 | .420 | .765 | |
Takahito Kudo's Career Stats
| Yr | Tm | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | TB | RBI | SB | CS | SH | SF | BB | HBP | SO | DP | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 2005 | HAM | 5 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| 2007 | HAM | 72 | 231 | 215 | 23 | 62 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 76 | 17 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 44 | 0 | .288 | .329 | .353 | .682 |
| 2008 | HAM | 104 | 233 | 199 | 20 | 51 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 64 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 18 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 42 | 0 | .256 | .307 | .322 | .630 |
| 2009 | YOM | 49 | 56 | 51 | 12 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 0 | .255 | .296 | .333 | .630 |
| 2010 | YOM | 40 | 30 | 26 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 0 | .231 | .333 | .231 | .564 |
| Totals | 270 | 563 | 504 | 58 | 132 | 19 | 6 | 0 | 163 | 32 | 18 | 4 | 23 | 1 | 23 | 12 | 121 | 0 | .262 | .309 | .323 | .633 | |
June 29th, 2011 on 5:12 pm
Don’t forget “and cash”. Unfortunately that’s the most important part of the trade
This is really blowing up with Lotte fans – I’ve already gotten a bunch of texts, mails, and calls wondering WTF Lotte is doing. Is the team really that broke? Did Saburo and management get in a fight?
Kudo is unlikely to see ichi-gun unless there is a real rash of injuries. On the other hand Saburo is arguably the most popular player at the stadium (unofficial poll of towels, uniforms, and signs). This is going to go over very badly.
June 29th, 2011 on 9:14 pm
wow, just GIVING a player away. Im sure other teams would have given a better player than Kudoh if they had known Saburo was available?
June 30th, 2011 on 10:55 am
Well that’s another old addition to an already older giants lineup but I guess it’s gonna help a little